Layout #57 front & back

So this is what I do sometimes if I really love a double-sided paper. The top photo shows the finished layout, the bottom shows the back of said finished layout. I figure I'll make a few cards with the cute strawberry patterned circles.

This is another Ailis page, and as you can see, she's a real thumb-sucker! The dentist gave us heck last time, saying we'd better crack down on it pretty quick. (Did you know there's a device that they can stick in the mouth, it's got spikes on it and makes it uncomfortable for a child to suck their thumb? I thought that sounded horrible!!!) So now she goes to bed with socks on her hands, except for when I'm out on a run and her dad's too lazy to put her to bed properly and she ends up crashing on the living room floor, like in these photos! I decided to use 2 more prompts from my Scrapbbok Play book: Prompt #9 - try a new starting point (I used the cute Beauty Rest piece as my inspiration and pulled all my colours from there) and Prompt #10 - use 8 punched circles on a page. These were all scraps, too. My journaling was already finished (I literally just cut it out of my journal and stapled it on there) and there you have it! Another page, done like dinner!

Supplies: Cosmo Cricket patterned paper, various cardstock scraps, unknown ribbon, staples

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Layout #56

I made this layout with the Design Dollies Elements Challenge in mind. It calls for: the color red, at least 3 ovals, a flourish, glitter, and 2 patterned papers. The part I had the most trouble with was the ovals! My old pages have tons of ovals, that was the "thing", but lately, no way! Anyway, this was a really fun page to put together. I really loved both sides of this paper from Pink Paislee, and I wanted to use both, so I cut out a section and turned it over, then stitched it together. How's that for frugal? I sprayed some glimmer mist on the white part, but it didn't show up enough, and I wasn't sure that was really "glitter", so I put some little dabs of liquid glass and prisma glitter on my grungeboard, which unfortunately doesn't show up that well in the photo. The other funny thing is that pleated ribbon on top. That's the first time I've ever tried it, and my sewing was totally erratic, so I had to cover it up with the star ribbon. That technique could use some work, ha ha!

That's my mother-in-law with Ailis there, by the way. They're like 2 peas in a pod, quite silly together!

Supplies: patterned paper from Pink Paislee, Tim Holtz grungeboard, distress ink, and perfect pearls, Prima journaling card, 7 Gypsies brads, Making Memories small letter stickers, MAMBI glitter letter stickers, Close to My Heart liquid glass and prisma glitter, unknown ribbon, Creative Memories pen

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Drum roll, please!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in my blog-a-versary candy giveaway! It was sooooooo much fun getting to know everyone a bit better, and also to see the number of followers grow. Your music and book suggestions were FANTABULOUS, and I will be putting together a playlist of everyone's favourite songs really soon. (Sande, State of Love and Trust by Pearl Jam has got to be one of my FAVOURITE songs of all time, and I totally forgot about it because I have/had it on tape, and who has tape players anymore?) So without further ado, the winner of my blog candy is... Mel! Love you, Mel, and I'm so glad you won because I know that some of the products are not available in Australia. Email me at roxdavies@hotmail.com and I'll get your package out ASAP. Mel has been one of my most supportive followers, and she is also a wonderful artist, you can check out her blog HERE.

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Layout #55

Do you remember Simple Scrapbooks magazine? I loved that one, and I was pretty sad when they closed shop a while ago. Anyway, I went to Smithers last week with my kids and my mom (shoe shopping for school, as you can't get anything decent here!) and I just HAD to go to the LSS of course (they were having a clearance sale - AWESOME!) and I found a Simple Scrapbooks special edition called "Scrapbook Play". It's filled with prompts to bring more fun to scrapbooking. So after reading it cover to cover, I decided that I'm going to try and do ALL of the prompts, starting now. This layout incorporates 3 prompts: Prompt #1 - journal around a photo block. Prompt #3 - Use a colour you avoid like the 24-hour flu (mint green for me! Doesn't it remind you of a hospital?) And Prompt #14 - tilt everything on your layout. If you look carefully, you'll see that nothing on this page is straight. I also tried a new technique with the little camera stamp. I picked up some colour from a stamp pad with my blender pen, then coloured in the image. It kind of makes a watercolour effect. So thanks again to Design Dollies for pushing my boundaries by getting me to use mint green (blech!) on a page, and if you're wondering what the heck this page is about, it chronicles my son's first foray into the world of photography! Looks like he needs a bit of practice, hee hee!

Supplies (all CTMH): Colonial White cardstock, Dazzling Die Cuts in Outdoor Denim, White Daisy and Clear Detail embossing powder, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Outdoor Denim and Juniper, Blending Pen, Colonial White Waxy Flax, Felicity My Acrylix stamp set

Other: Versamark Ink, Hampton Arts and Imaginisce stamps, Creative Memories pen and patterned paper, Ranger Perfect Pearls, unknown mint green cardstock

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Little Princess

Hey, here's some cool news! I was chosen as a fave over at Some Odd Girl for my last card! YOW!!! So I thought I might try something similar for this card. I used sketch 78 from Card Patterns (flipped upside down) and the colours from Just Us Girls (lime, hot pink, and teal). I love these colours, and I almost cut into my new papers from Cosmo Cricket's Delovely line, but I just couldn't do it! Instead, I used up some scraps from Close to My Heart's Whoops-A-Daisy. This pack is nearly finished, and I will be sad to see it go. Anyhoo, I paper pieced this little princess's dress, shoes, and even the wand and crown, so I will enter her into the Simon Says Stamp challenge for this week (which is paper piecing, go figure!). I think this will make a cute birthday card for a little girl.

Supplies (all CTMH): White Daisy cardstock and card base, other cardstock and patterned paper from Whoops-a-Daisy Level 2 paper pack, Little Princess My Acrylix stamp set, Exclusive Inks stamp pad in Black, Exclusive Inks marker in Parchment, Prisma Glitter, Liquid Glass, White Daisy organdy ribbon, watercolour pencils, blending pen

Other: Sugar Coated cardstock by Doodlebug, unknown button and gem

Post Script: Aw man, I just went over to JUGS to link up and I missed the deadline! Don't ya hate it when that happens?

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Smokin' Hot!

These papers came in a prize package I won from Design Dollies, and I love 'em 'cause they're just so masculine! When I saw the one patterned paper, I just knew that I wanted to cut it up to make a banner with the shapes, so when I saw Sketch 118 at Creative Scrappers with the banner in one corner, I knew now was the time to do it. I followed the sketch quite closely this time, and the page came together very quickly. What do you think?

Supplies: patterned papers from Scrap Within Reach, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, American Crafts Thickers, Tim Holtz Grungeboard, Distress Ink, and Perfect Pearls, Sakura Gelly Roll pen

P.S. this is layout #54 for the year, only 66 left to do!

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Angel Baby

So I've been playing around with some Tim Holtz products, and I found that with grungeboard, distress ink, and perfect pearls, I can make these beautiful wings. And voila! Inspiration struck! Isn't it cool when that happens? I was also inspired by this Basic Grey paper that I picked up (on sale, love that!) at the LSS on my little summer holiday. I decided to turn my baby into an angel/cupid/cherub/whatever, and found some cool embellishments to go along with it. The image is from the Graphics Fairy (very cool site, tons of vintage images of whatever you want!) and I have a button up top that you can't see very well, but it goes perfectly. The diagonal paper journaling strips and ribbon I dyed with distress inks. Plus because I used cardboard, circles, and journaling, I can enter the recipe challenge at The Pink Elephant this week. This layout is also based (quite loosely!) on a sketch at Design Dollies. Thanks for looking, and make sure you check out my blog candy! Only 5 days left to enter!

Supplies: Colonial White cardstock, watercolour pencils, and blending pen from Close to My Heart, patterned paper from Basic Grey, Tim Holtz Grungeboard, Distress Inks, and Perfect Pearls, stamp from Autumn Leaves, Creative Memories fine-tip pen, Avery metallic marker, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, image from the Graphics Fairy, unknown button and ribbon

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First Attempt at a Digi Stamp

So don't laugh, but this is the first time I've ever used a digi stamp. Never even heard of 'em until I started blogging, and then I had no cause to use 'em because I didn't have a printer. But my mom and dad gave me a new printer, kind of outta the blue (thanks, folks!) and I decided to make this card as my first project. I used a freebie stamp from Some Odd Girl (isn't he cute, his name's Tobie) and I did some paper piecing for his clothes. The rest of the image I coloured in with watercolour pencils and markers from Close to My Heart. And that's when I realized why people use Copics for this kind of thing. It's pretty hard to get an even skin tone (or dog tone, for that matter!) with regular markers. Ah well, I think he's kinda neat, just the same. I used ribbon (for photo corners) and a rub-on to complete the Some Odd Girl challenge for this week, and I used a sketch from the Sweet Stop. Their challenge also has a twist this week, and that's to use a school-based theme, so this is a little boy giving his dog a bone before heading off to school. He kind of looks like my Nolan with his tanned face and spikey hair, doncha think? Thanks for looking, and make sure you check out my blog candy before you go!

Supplies (all CTMH): cardstock and patterned paper from Backcountry Level 2 paper pack, watercolour pencils, Exclusive Inks markers in Cocoa and Parchment, blending pen

Other: image from Some Odd Girl, Cosmo Cricket rub-on, Making Memories brads, unknown ribbon

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Blog-A-Versary!

Hey, guess what? It's the one year anniversary of my first ever blog post! I just realized this a couple of days ago, so I thought I should put together a little blog candy. I've had so much fun blogging my creations, hearing others' comments, winning prizes, and meeting cool people from all over for the past 365 days that I decided it's time to give back. So, to be eligible, you must leave me a comment on this post letting me know that you've:

1. Become a follower (if you're already a follower, simply let me know that you want to be entered into the draw), for one entry.
2. Post this pic/link in the sidebar of your blog for a second entry.
3. Tell me your current favourite song and a book I should read (this is clearly for my own entertainment!) for a third entry.

And if you're from the Burns Lake area, you get an extra 2 entries (just because I can)! I will draw the winner, let's say next Friday (that's August 27th) at 9 p.m. Pacific Time. So spread the word, my loyal lovelies, as my goal is to gain another 30 followers (yikes, is that too many - oh well, aim high, right?)

P.S. Can anyone tell me how to keep this post at the top? Never done that before.

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Fiver!

This here is a birthday card for my friend Jill. She looooooves cowboys! Her birthday's not until November, but hey, at least I'm ahead of the game. I've been holding onto this postcard with the cowboy for at least 13 years, and now I know why! And the card qualifies for 5 challenges! That's gotta be a record for me. The challenges are:

1. Design Dollies: colours this week are Royal Blue, Teal/Aqua, and Orange
2. Some Odd Girl: ribbons and rub-ons
3. JUGS: cowboy-inspired
4. Our Creative Corner: use sketch 28

5. Pile it on: OK, I just realized that my card doesn't meet the requirements for this challenge, but I've already linked up to all the other sites with this title on my post. So I guess it's not a fiver, but still, the effort was there.

So, I hope Jill's not reading this blog, otherwise the surprise will be ruined. And I hope her husband's not too jealous of the handsome cowboy I'm sending her!

Supplies (all CTMH): White Daisy cardstock, Splendour level 2 patterned paper

Other: Cosmo Cricket rub-on, unknown ribbon, postcard

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Trifecta, Yeah Baby!

Design Dollies Trifecta this week: colours: yellow, kraft and white. Elements: lyrics from a TV theme song. And then the sketch. You know, I almost gave up on it. The elements challenge really had me stumped. I don't watch much TV, and when I do, we only get 4 crummy channels. The only lyrics that came to mind were those from CSI (well, it was either that or the Beverly Hillbillies!), so once I decided to go with them, it was time to have some fun! I cut Nolan out of his photos, then made him some frames with paint and stamps, and I added some of my new grungeboard, lots of distress ink, and some perfect pearls mist. I really like how this one turned out, and my hubby said it is one of my best pages ever (very high praise indeed!)

Supplies (all CTMH): White Daisy cardstock, Felicity My Acrylix stamp set, Exclusive Inks pen in Cocoa, brads

Other: Kraft cardstock, Tim Holtz Grungeboard, Distress Ink (Walnut Stain), and Perfect Pearls (Heirloom Gold), Deco Art acrylic paint, unknown date stamp and ribbon

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Layout #51

Here's the final page for my husband's bike race 2 years ago. I had a bunch of photos, and I wanted to include them all, so I went to my "Creative Sketches for Scrapbooking" book by Becky Higgins for inspiration. I really like the layout of it! I also used SPCC colours from a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't meet the challenge deadline because of our little holiday. (As an aside, we went to our home town of Williams Lake for a week, right during the big forest fires. It was insane, I've never seen anything like it! So much smoke and haze, felt like standing in a campfire!) I really loved the Twitterpated paper pack when I first bought it, and I've used up almost all the blue and green paper, but this brown tree print had been sitting there for ages! I'm so glad to finally use it, and I think it works well here. I used some corrugated cardboard and grunged it up with ink, and my husband had kept the official poster from the event in his workshop, so I swiped it and cut it all up to use. Whoever made the poster did a great job! Do you see the pig skull and crossbones on the right hand page? Too cute!

Supplies (all CTMH): patterned paper from Twitterpated and Emporium Level 2 paper packs, Exclusive Inks stamp pad in Cocoa

Other: Kraft cardstock, cardboard, staples, Creative Memories pen

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Queen of my Heart

Here's some more recent photos of Brenna. She is exactly 5 months here, and I could just eat her up, she is just soooooo yummy! OK, enough gushing! I definitely had some challenges with this layout. I knew I wanted to use the sketch from Sketchy Thursdays, but it took me a while to find colours, and now that it's done, I'm not entirely sure about it. I don't hate it, but something's off. What do you think? Is it the green journaling block? I misted the crown last night, then my kids said, "Hey, you should put a crown on her head!" which I thought was a great idea, but I couldn't find the right one in my stash. Then I went to the post office this afternoon, and lo and behold, a package from Design Dolly Dana (ha, I think that's alliteration, isn't it?) had arrived, containing grungeboard and distress inks, and AHA! A grungeboard crown right when I most needed it! How cool is that?

Supplies (all CTMH): White Daisy cardstock, patterned paper from Twitterpated and Emporium Level 2 paper packs, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Sweet Leaf, Blush, and White Daisy, Chocolate Alphabet My Acrylix stamp set, Clear Sparkles

Other: Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Glimmer Screen, Jolee's Boutique daisy stickers, Prima pebbles, Tim Holtz Grungeboard and Urban Grunge stamp set, Creative Memories pen, unknown ribbon, date stamp

PS - this is layout #50 of 120 for the year!

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Threefer!

Is that even a word, "threefer"? What I meant was three challenges in one, like two-for-one, only with three, get it? OK, I should probably be going to bed, 'cause I'm gettin' a little goofy! I was away on a little holiday last week, so when I came home yesterday with some new goodies, I was just rarin' to go. I love this stamp set from Tim Holtz with the bird, swirl and handwriting (which you can just barely see in the background there), don't you? I think I'll be using it a lot. Anyhoo, my 3 three challenges are these:

CPS 179 Part 1: a sketch, never tried one of their sketches before, but I love it. Of course, I had to flip it around a little and change it up some, but the idea is still there.

Design Dollies: colours this week are yellow, white, and kraft. LOVE it, may use it again for a layout, stay tuned!

Stampin' Royalty: make your own background paper. I used two different background stamps to make two different backgrounds. Must get more background stamps, very versatile things, they are!

And there you have it, a nice little birthday card for my Auntie Judy, whose birthday I missed by about 3 weeks, more like 4 by the time it gets to her. Oops!

Supplies (all Close to My Heart): card base, White Daisy cardstock, ribbon slide, and flower brads, Intrinsic Backgrounds My Acrylix stamp set, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Creme Brulee, Desert Sand, and Cocoa

Other: Tim Holtz Urban Grunge stamp set and Tea Dye Distress Ink, unknown ribbon and paper flowers, staples

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